SpaceX’s new Starship Superheavy launch vehicle experienced it’s second Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly (RUD) in as many test flights Saturday morning. (That’s space geek talk for “it blew up”).
In all seriousness though, SpaceX made a giant stride in testing the improved technology integrated into their second Starship Superheavy rocket.Starship is the largest, most powerful rocket ever flown. Today’s uncrewed flight test was known as Orbital Flight Test 2 (OFT-2), and comes following a previous test launch in April this year.
In the April launch, Starship successfully cleared the tower, and survived the flight phase know as Max Q. (Max Q is the moment of maximum aerodynamic pressure on a rocket as it streaks skyward). The hurdles represented the first of several that SpaceX was hoping to clear on the first ever flight of a Starship. However, with the loss of several of it’s 33 Raptor engines during ascent, that flight ended moments later when the first and second stages failed to seperate, resulting in the destruction of the rocket. That launch also did severe damages to SpaceX’s launch pad, necessitating a major redesign of the pad to include a water suppression system.
Just seven short months later, today’s launch featured not only an upgraded pad water suppression system, but a completely redesigned stage separation system, utilizing a concept known as “hot staging”. By inserting a ventilated staging ring between the first and second stages, the new system allowed the firing of the Starship’s six second stage engines to separate it from the booster.
Unlike the last launch, today’s 7:02 AM liftoff from the pad at Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas was flawless, with no obvious damage to the pad. The 33 Raptor engines appeared to perform flawlessly,propelling the craft through Max Q on on to what appeared to be a successful stage separation. As the booster fell away and began orienting itself for a “soft touchdown” in the Caribbean Sea, something caused the booster to explode in a spectacular fireball.
The second stage meanwhile continued it’s planned ascent to an altitude just shy of that needed to enter orbit, it’s six engines appearing to perform nominally. A short while later, SpaceX engineers reported a loss of telemetry from the vehicle, and after a brief investigation announced the loss of the vehicle. Early reports indicated that the Flight Termination System had triggered, causing the destruction of the spacecraft. The FTS is a “fail-safe” mechanism designed to destroy the craft in the event of a serious failure that could endanger persons or property on the ground. Some people in Puerto Rico posted videos online of a fiery Starship reentering the atmosphere as it flew by the island.
FMN will continue to follow this story as details develop.
